The Ethereum developer team is in an exciting process of testing for the next long-awaited advancement, known as the “Dencun” update.
This update is shaping up to be a crucial milestone that will add data storage capacity through a new process called “proto-danksharding.”
In a recent biweekly call, the developers set January 17, 2024 as the target date for the Goerli test network (testnet) to undergo the Dencun upgrade.
The main objective of this improvement is to implement “proto-danksharding”, a function aimed at reducing fees for layer 2 rollups and expanding the capacity of the blockchain by increasing the space for data “blobs”.
Tim Beiko, protocol support lead at the Ethereum Foundation, noted on the call:
“Obviously, if we encounter a major issue or something unexpected before then, we can always cancel.”
He also mentioned that ideally a blog post about the fork will be published during the week of January 8, so that people have at least a week to update.
Dencun was initially planned to be implemented in the last quarter of 2023, but the developers decided to postpone it until 2024 due to technical complexities encountered during its development.
The testing schedule for the Dencun update also includes the Sepolia testnet on January 31, 2024, followed by Holesky on February 7, 2024.
The changes are targeted to be implemented on the Ethereum mainnet around the end of February 2024.
However, it was emphasized that these dates could vary depending on the results of the tests in the test networks.
Dencun is shaping up to be the first major update since Shapella earlier the same year, which allowed withdrawals of staked ether (ETH) from the blockchain.
The Ethereum Foundation’s rigorous focus on testing and tuning highlights its commitment to the stability and effectiveness of the Dencun upgrade prior to its deployment to the Ethereum mainnet.
